Photos courtesy Vancouver Regional Construction Association

Building permits in Vancouver's Lower Mainland-Southwest region have rebounded back to their highest level since September 2008. Included in this area is Richmond, B.C., home of the 33,750-m² (363,383-sf) Richmond Olympic Oval, which completed construction in December 2008.

The 61-storey (197-m [646-ft]) Shangri-La Hotel, in Vancouver's Lower Mainland-Southwest region, opened in 2009, just after the September 2008 building permit value peak.

The Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA) says building permit values in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region have risen to the highest level since September 2008.

Total permit values in that area increased 27 per cent from October to November 2009, rising from $408.7 million to $520.6 million, according to the VRCA's analysis of recent Statistics Canada data. In the same period, non-residential permits jumped 90 per cent, while residential permits rose six per cent.

Building permit values in the Lower Mainland-Southwest region dropped 38 per cent from $6.2 billion to $3.8 billion in the first 11 months of 2009 due to a 39 per cent decline in residential permits. Non-residential permits went down 36 per cent to a value of $1.5 billion during the same period.

However, Keith Sashaw, VRCA president, said the number of residential permits will start to grow this year.

"While residential permits posted only a moderate increase in November, this sector is largely behind the overarching uptrend in total building permits," he said. "This should continue as the market is signalling for more new housing construction which is starting to materialize and should rise higher in the coming months."